Retractable awnings provide a person the flexibility of being able to control the reach of light as well as of atmospheric precipitations over an area adjacent to a building, such as the user's home or a commercial building, without having to perform labor-intensive activities such as setting up a tent. Such awnings generally include a canvas, such as fabric, stretched over a structure that attaches to the building and including at least two mechanical arms that include a tensioned spring and whose bending and straightening can be controlled by the user, increasing and decreasing the area covered by the fabric. When the user desires to limit the reach of light or precipitation over the area, the awning is extended to cover the desired area via a straightening of the arms. When the coverage by the canvas is no longer desired, the awning can be retracted via a bending of the arms, making the desired area once again accessible to light, such as sunlight, and precipitation. As retractable awnings are commonly motorized, a user can often accomplish the extension and retraction of an awning with a push of a button.
Existing retractable awnings have a variety of drawbacks that limit their functionality and attractiveness to a user. For example, most manufactured arms have a tension in the spring that differs from the tension in other arms. If two arms with mismatched tension are included in the same awning, the awning may not properly extend or retract. Thus, awning manufacturers must either match the arms for an awning at the factory or accept the possibility that their awning may not properly deploy.
Further, as awnings are attached to the outside of buildings, the mechanical components of the awnings, such as the arms, are constantly and continuously exposed to the elements, such as precipitation and wind. Such exposure can lead to the degradation of the mechanical components due to corrosion and other environmental impact, causing a need to replace the awning. A particularly vulnerable point of such awnings can be an elbow, a joint of the mechanical arm at which the arm bends. If degraded, the arms may be no longer capable of bending, and the awning will no longer be retractable, losing the awning's usefulness. This degradation is especially significant due to commercially available awnings not providing adequate protection of the internal components of the arms. For example, the awnings distributed by BAT USA Group of Manhattan, N.Y. include arms with elbows whose internal components are visibly exposed to the outside world. Such exposure allows moisture and other elements to interact with the internal elbow components, hastening their degradation. Other currently available commercial designs suffer from similar drawback. Further, the exposure of the internal components of the elbows, such as cables used in the elbows, may be aesthetically unattractive to the user. Such aesthetic repulsion may increase as the internal components become visible corroded.
Likewise, additional components of currently-produced arms have functional and aesthetic drawbacks. For example, an overextension of the arms could cause a deformation of the shape of an awning, rendering the awning useless. To keep the arms from overextending, existing awnings, such as those distributed by BAT USA Group, employ external blocks that limit how far the elbow of the arm can rotate, thus preventing the overextension of the arm. Due to these blocks being external, they are exposed to potential damage, creating another vulnerability in the arm. Some users may also find such blocks aesthetically unappealing.
Finally, currently available arms of retractable awnings are generally unitary structures that cannot be easily disassembled in the field. When one component of such arms becomes degraded, the entire arm, if not the entire retractable awning, needs to be replaced, or returned to the manufacturer. Such replacement or return increases the cost of owning a retractable awnings as well limiting their lifespan.
Accordingly, there is a need for an easily-serviceable and adjustable retractable awning arm whose internal components are not easily accessible to the elements and in which tension can be regulated.